Today’s post was written by Paul.
There are so many Hank songs to choose from, and none of them are duds. I’ve never really sung “House of Gold,” but it just came into my mind yesterday, then I remembered that it was time to do Hank’s birthday tribute (September 17). Last year, I was either late or missed it entirely. I can’t remember for sure which.
Pap and Ray fooled around with “House of Gold” a few times during their practice sessions but never with any serious effort.
The song came back onto their radar when the Nashville Bluegrass Band released it. Alan O’Bryant and Pat Enright, the two main singers for NBB, were the greatest duet (in my opinion) to not be known as a duet nor mentioned in discussions of great duet singers. Pap considered them both to be superb tenor singers.
In fact, it was difficult to say which of the two was the better harmony singer. I would have to say, it was probably Alan, simply because he had a little more variety and expression in his harmony singing, but both were amazing. Both were also excellent lead singers, so they could change configurations all they wanted, and the result would still be incredibly good.
Sadly, Alan lost most of his singing ability through some sort of throat problems. I never got to hear them in person, but Tipper’s family did. Pap may have been along with them to see that concert.
Tipper said that all the band was extremely nice to Corie and Katie, who were just little girls at the time, and encouraged them. I could not find their recording of “House of Gold” on YouTube, but it is exquisite.
In the chorus, they added an extra chord by going up to what I would call the high chord of the high chord. That probably makes no sense to anyone, especially not to musicians who have more formal training and understanding than I do. Basically, if they sang the song in D, then when they went to G for the chorus, they also went up to C, then back down to G before returning to D or the home/root chord. I thought about trying to sing the song that way, but it’s difficult enough just the way Hank wrote it.
This is one of the most widely covered songs from Hank. Just search on YouTube, and you can listen to covers for days. It’s a very hard song to sing because of the range covered. It starts in the basement and then climbs up to the second floor. 🙂
As you can probably tell from the video, I have far more trouble with the low parts than the high parts. To me, most of Hank’s songs don’t seem made up, and this one is no exception. What I mean by that is, Hank wasn’t saying, “Well, I’ll write a song so I can have a hit record.” No, he seemed to be speaking directly from the depths of his heart and allowing his song to express what he was feeling and experiencing at that particular moment.
This is one of those songs that can raise the hair on the back of your neck if you really focus on the lyrics. Believe it or not, I did this in only one take with no practice whatsoever. You’re probably saying, “Oh, we believe it alright!”
When I make videos with the piano, it’s more difficult to film them. I am such a novice at the piano, that I often cannot look away from the keys toward the camera to sing; yet, I would like for the viewer to be able to see the piano keys. This afternoon, I thought, “Boy, I wish there was a way to aim the microphone one direction and the camera lens a different direction.” To my surprise, I found a button on the side of the Zoom Q8 that allows you to do just that. I have thrown off on and criticized this camera a lot for its many design flaws, but this is a pretty cool feature. The video would have turned out better if I had adjusted the volume down a little. The audio distorted or clipped on the high parts of the song, but it’s not bad for one set-up, one take, and no practice.
I may use this approach again in the future. It reminds me of one of the big, early YouTube musicians/channels called FretKiller. Pap and I loved his videos, which quickly got millions of views. He was an excellent singer and picker, and the camera never showed his face. It was always aimed down at the guitar, like this video shows only my hands on the keys.
For years, FretKiller was a mystery. No one knew who he was and whether he was an amateur or a professional. It was later revealed that he was Jim Hurst, an amazing picker who has played with a lot of well known bluegrass artists. For some reason, he took his channel down, but you can still find videos of FretKiller from random people who saved some of his videos and re-uploaded them.
I hope you enjoyed this year’s Hank tribute. Don’t judge the song by my performance of it. It’s a masterpiece. Go check out some other recordings/performances of it. Thanks for watching.
Paul
Original singles released on Spotify.
Shepherd of My Soul (Album released in 2016).
The Wilson Brothers Words of Life Album released in the 70s.
Thank you, Paul. That was beautiful!
Daddy used to sing this in church with his guitar. It’s a good song. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard it with piano before. Prayers for granny and y’all as always
Loved the song…and your singing and playing of it. Still thinking about and praying for your Mama. Happy Sunday everyone.
Thank you, Paul, it was a great song. Praying for Granny.
Hank had some great songs, and this was one of them. Thanks, Paul, for sharing.
There will never be another Hank Williams.
Don, I agree, I don’t think anyone can ever replace Hank Williams. I can sit and listen to his songs all day. The songs he wrote came from the heart.
I was a young kid who had just learned C F and G when Hank died. He was my hero mostly because he wrote his own songs. I was already trying to write.
I was at the woodpile splitting slabs when my Mom came to me and sad, “Son, Miz Burnette just told me Hank died”. I was devastated. Jack Cardwell immediately released a record, “Death of Hank Williams “ and of course I learned it. Jack’s protege, Lawrence Reynolds and I became friends in Nashville. He wrote his hit, “Jesus is a Soulman” in a barn by candlelight. Lawrence died fairly young from a heart attack although he was a fitness nut. He was in the Marine Corps when he had the hit. He never smoked or drank.
I wonder the heights Hank’s legend would have reached if the actions of his son hadn’t been what they were.
Ed, this is just a thought, I think Hank JR. may have acted like he did because of people expecting him to be like his daddy. I think it was his way of fighting back and showing people he was not his daddy. I feel like Dale Earnhardt Jr was also under a lot of pressure from the fans expecting him to be like his daddy. I am not a fan of either one, but I think it was unfair to both of them for the fans expecting them to be like the their daddies.
Good job Paul.
I love this song. Before Daddy went on hospice, and was able to play his guitar, we’d sing this song. I think of me and Daddy singing often and this is up at the top of the list. Thank you for your rendition of it Paul.
We humans are often reminded (and would be more so if we would notice) that our lives are about far more than the seen and this world. Not knowing at what point in his short career Hank wrote this, I wonder if this song was all about a strong realization that the glitz, the glamour and the fame were not what mattered most. Once again, Paul, you leave me in your dust. You know so much more about music than I do I just take your word for it. I have been told – but don’t know it myself – that I sing “C natural”. My version of that is that I am a plowhorse; no finesse, just plodding through the middle, more or less. For that reason though, I enjoy your looks behind the scenes even more. And I’m with you 100% on the ‘heartfelt’ versus the crafted for effect.
What a great lyric! Amen! Paul you did a beautiful job.
Great song. Hope Mrs. Wilson is feeling some better. Thinking of you all.
TY Paul. I went and listened to Hank sing it too. You did very well. I think he would be pleased.
thank you Paul, God bless you and your family